Courage and creativity
by KS Claw
Summary: Once upon a time, in a time known as the Golden Age, a man named Kozmotis Pitchiner met the woman who would become his wife.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: We all know the story of how Kozmotis Pitchiner lost his family, and eventually became Pitch Black, the Nightmare King. I wanted to do something a little different, and show how he met my version of Lady Pitchiner.

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 **Chapter 1: Meeting**

The first time they meet is a coincidence.

Kozmotis Pitchiner is but a young soldier, passing the time while visiting the market. He isn't even on a specific errand, just passing time after having been on a three-month long patrol with the _Sunstrider_ , whose crew he is currently a part of. Despite a run-in with a small band of Dream Pirates near the rings of the planet Boradio, it had been a relatively quiet patrol, something that most soldiers Kozmotis' age finds rather tedious. The run-in hadn't even been that overly exciting. The Dream pirates looked like they had been in a scuffle with someone before the _Sunstrider_ came across them (possibly rival pirates or a very vicious Star pilot), and were therefore easy to capture.

"Darling, there you are!"

Her voice, bright and clear like a bell, startles Kozmotis out of his thoughts and he turns before he can stop to think. A young woman, hardly a few years his junior (and a couple of inches shorter than him) rushes towards him, and he finds himself worrying she is going to run headfirst into him... right up until she jumps up and sets off from a box, right into his waiting arms (he had reacted by pure instinct at that, he realizes, as though expecting this action.)

And before he knows it, she is _kissing_ him. He stands frozen, mind blank in shock and surprise even as she pulls away, smiling as she does so before hugging close to him.

" _Apologies, but I am in a bit of a pinch!_ " She whispers hurriedly to him. Kozmotis only blinks a moment, before catching sight of a rather ruffled and slightly familiar gentleman, who looks stunned at first, and then frowns darkly when Kozmotis easily sets the lady down, though keeping her close in a hopefully familiar-looking embrace.

"My lady..." Kozmotis finally replies smoothly, "I wasn't even expecting to see you here today! I'm so glad I was wrong." The young woman smiles more earnestly in relief, hugging close to him as she keeps up their little charade.

"I wanted to see you. Father told me I shouldn't, but you know how old fashioned he is."

Kozmotis responds by offering his arm and leading the lady off, vaguely agreeing on her statement. Behind them, the suitor watches them for a moment before turning away and stalking off in a huff. They keep up their charade for a few more minutes however, just to be on the safe side, before the young woman sighs in relief at last and pulls away, giving a slightly embarassed curtsey.

"My apologies again, good sir." She says. "And thank you for playing along. I promise, I do not make it a habit to randomly jump on strangers."

Kozmotis merely smiles and shrugs slightly.

"There is no need for an apology, my dear lady." He tells her earnestly, "I am only glad that I could help you with your predicament."

"You are too kind." She replies with a smile, before she blinks in realization and grimaces. "...Even as I continue to be _brutish_ with my own manners, and not even introduce myself!" She gave a light curtsey at that.

"My name is Carolina Rosalinda Ebony Centaurii. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

He returns her smile and gives a bow from the waist himself.

"Lieutenant Kozmotis Pitchiner, of the Tsar's Golden Army, currently serving on the _Sunstrider_. The pleasure is all mine."


	2. Chapter 2: Delivery

"Mail call!" A commanding officer called, bringing in a bundle of letters that were soon passed around. It wasn't often that a mail courier would reach the Sunstrider when it was out on patrol, but when it did, it meant a lot to the soldiers out on patrol that they got encouraging words from loved ones back home.

This time, much to Kozmotis' surprise, a letter was passed to him as well in the form of a simple white envelope with elegant, cursive writing on it.

"Well now Pitchiner!" One of Koz' fellow soldiers exclaimed, "who is writing to you all the way out in the ass-end of this galaxy?"

"Maybe it's a _girl!_ " Another soldier named Wilson called, which was followed by several catcalls and wolf whistles. Kozmotis rolled his eyes, as he got up to head out of the cabin for some peace and quiet. "You're all hilarious." He scoffed, opening the envelope and pulling out the letter as he went.

It turned out however, that they had not been far off. The letter showed signs of having been a few places, such as the Golden Army Headquarters in the Lunar Capitol, before being sent off to a couple of harbors the Sunstrider had been at, before finally arriving at its destination.

 _To Lieutenant Kozmotis Pitchiner,_ The letter read.

 _I hope this letter finds you in good health, wherever you may be at this moment. When delivering my letter, I was informed it would be best to send it off to the local military headquarters, since they would be more aware of your current whereabouts. I decided to take their advice, since I only recalled the name of your ship, the Sunstrider, and for all I know you might have joined the crew of another ship until then._

 _It may be a while before this letter arrives, but even so, I wanted to once again express my gratitude to you. Your help on that day, and followed by the pleasant afternoon we shared afterward, was possibly one of the best things that could have happened to me. Perhaps we can meet again, and if not, then hopefully correspond. I am certain you have a lot of things to do, than simply write letters to a random woman who kissed you out of nowhere, but I figured it wouldn't do any harm to at least offer it._

 _Finally, I must admit I may have snooped a little. A friendly sergent at the military office allowed me look through some files to confirm you were the person I was looking for, and I couldn't help but notice that your birthday was very soon. As such, whenever you receive this letter, I wish you a happy birthday, and a safe journey wherever you may be. I hope you get a chance to celebrate it some time, and if not that you at least have a pleasant day._

 _Pleasantly yours_

 _Carolina Rosalinda Ebony Centaurii of House Centaurii._

Kozmotis read the letter through once, then a few more times, just to be certain he was reading things correctly. After a while, he found that he simply couldn't stop smiling. It was rare for him to get letters, and it was quite unexpected for it to be from a person he had met so randomly. But at the same time, it was rather nice. And for her to also have remembered his birthday, when he had honestly quite forgotten about it himself (as there wasn't really time to celebrate such things when on duty), it was rather sweet of her to send him such wishes.

He promised himself, that if nothing else, he was going to take up her offer and write back to her. And the thought of having someone to write back to, even if only to thank her for her letter, was just… nice.

"What's got you grinning like that, Pitchiner?" One of the other recruits asked when he returned to their shared cabin. "Did a _girlfriend_ write you or something, like Wilson said it was?"

Kozmotis merely snorted, but still smiled as he got to his own bunk. "Even if it was, why should I tell you lot?" He teased, before getting out a piece of paper from his own stash (a perk about having slight rank meant that you could sometimes get a share of papers, if you needed to communicate with officers on other ships), and settled down to think of what to write before lights out.

"It's _totally_ a girl." Wilson teased from his own bunk. "I'll bet you five silvers on it."

A/N: _Story time: This chapter was inspired by real life events, so to speak. When my parents first met, my dad, who was in the Danish Navy, was stationed in Greenland at the time and had been briefly back in Denmark, where he'd been introduced to my mom, by his sister. My mom had found out around their first meeting, that it would soon be my dad's birthday. So she got his address and wrote to him to wish him a happy birthday. And this correspondance lead to them forming a relationship 3_


End file.
